'It’s always a tremendous boost to win a major award ': Hannan brings home the bacon from Great Taste with a unique cure
The Moira producer’s buttermilk dry-cured bacon rack won the prestigious Golden Fork for Northern Ireland at the 2026 Great Taste Awards in London
A bacon rack dry-cured in buttermilk from Hannan Meats in Moira was named Northern Ireland’s tastiest food for 2026 by leading food experts in London this week.
Hannan Meats, owned by longstanding food innovator Peter Hannan, won the prestigious Golden Fork for Northern Ireland at the finals of the influential UK Great Taste Awards 2026.
Hannan Meats and The Curly Pigs from Newtownbutler in Co Fermanagh reached the Supreme Champion finals in the annual UK Great Taste Awards 2026.
Hannan had two buttermilk cured bacon products listed for the Northern Ireland Golden Fork,
The two local producers were among 33 from Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and many other parts of the world taking park in this year’s prestigious Great Taste Awards run by the influential Guild of Fine Foods.
The annual event attracted food and drink, mostly from artisan producers, from almost 800 companies from 116 countries worldwide. Overall, around 15,000 food and drink products were entered. Finalists Curly Pigs and Hannan Meats were among 138 from Northern Ireland to win a variety of stars for their products.
Peter Hannan, commenting on the Regional Fork, said: “It’s always a tremendous boost to win a major award at Great Taste. It’s such an important and influential competition that showcases the very best food.
“The award, and we’ve been fortunate to win many in Great Taste, including two supreme champion titles, help enormously to raise awareness of our products and expertise, as well as others from Northern Ireland,” he adds.
The top awards were judged, the first time ever on the night in front of an audience of hundreds of other producers, food writers and business people, and announced at the colourful event in the spectacular Battersea Arts Centre.
The Supreme Champion title for 2026 was won by a Wagyu Beef Ham from a producer in Wales.
The Curly Pigs, a business owned by husband and wife team Stephen and Rachael McMaster, reached the finals with its Coppa, an Italian pork salted and dry-cured meat crafted from the pig shoulder or neck of rare-breed pigs in Fermanagh.
Curing in buttermilk enhances the flavour of pork and bacon by adding “a subtle, pleasant tang that pairs well the meat and savoury spices including garlic”.